GalaLeFey: The Color Changing Kougra
by GalaLeFey
Summary: The life of an RPG character I have on Neopets. A little angsty, somewhat corny at times, but I like it. The whole story will be sent to the Neopian Times when it's done, so look for it! *No Flames Please*
1. Escape From the Pound

FYI: The pets in this story are anthropomorphic, meaning they walk around on their hind legs, have bodies similar to those of people, have hair like people, and wear clothes, but still have attributes of their species (fur, paws, etc). The art on the following page is a good example: http://kawaiimiki.homestead.com/Art1.html (not including the one with the Zafaras and the paintbrushes)   
Note: Pardon any views of any guild or species. It's just a story! ^.^  
P.S: Thanks to Child_Dragon for lending me Rycio. For those of you who've read "As Told By Child_Dragon," Gala meets Rycio before C_D's pets do. Just so you don't get confused ^.^Thanks also to Memento_Ring, MitsueMikage, and puppy_princesslily, who helped me out, encouraged, and pestered me to get the story done. Now on with the story!  
  
GalaLeFey opened her gold eyes, wishing she could fall back asleep. 'Hello pound,' she said to herself mentally, groaning as she stretched the stiffness out of her back. 'I hope this is the last day I sleep on concrete. I can't even remember the last time I slept on a real bed.' A loud bell rang, jangling and causing a few of the younger pets to yelp as they were jolted out of bed. As her door swung open, Gala checked the slightly ripped calendar. 'March 28th... oh yeah, yesterday was my birthday. I forgot, I'm 7 now...' Gala yawned as she changed from the rags she called pajamas into the rags she called pants and a t-shirt. Humming to herself, she walked over to a small basin full of slightly scummy water, with a sign just outside the walls marking it "Females". She reached down and unclogged the dirt from the drain, and the water began to spiral down. When it was empty, she pumped the rusty lever, sending some fresh water into the dirty stone basin. Quickly washing up with some of the stinging soap, she glanced in the scratched up mirror. Her red fur was scraggly, and her long black hair was in a messy tangled braid. 'Mirror mirror on the wall, who'll never be the fairest of them all?' She thought to herself, smiling bitterly at her reflection as she combed her hair with her claws, then quickly braided it again. She smiled sisterly at a couple 3 year old pets who were racing each other to the cleaning basin.   
Gala looked around. She ruffled the short hair of a small yellow kyrii who was scampering off to the cleaning basin. "Be careful, Fidget! You don't want to slip!" She smiled as the little female nodded. Fidget wasn't her real name: it was actually sfggfsfg12345. Most of the pets had names that were impossible to say, so they had nicknames. Gala was one of the few pets with a name that could be pronounced.   
A loud cow bell jangled as a pompous, overfed female pear chia named Poire walked through the heavy wooden door, pushing a large cart. Poire had been hired when krawk neopets began to pop up and prospective owners began to dump their other pets to make room. She smirked at the pets and tossed out a burst blue bouncy ball, a broken blue pencil, and a broken whistle. Some decrepit books, spelled against disappearing, were also given, before Poire opened another compartment in her cart, full of food. She gave each pet a different food: infested peaches to one pet, a snail sub to another, eye candy to Fidget, and maggot stew to Gala. Poire really hated Gala for some reason Gala didn't even knew, and always tried to make her life miserable. Just as she put down the maggot stew, she pulled out a piece of toffee and shoved it in her mouth, smirking.  
"Like you need any more feeding, Poire," Gala remarked nonchalantly, as she tried to choke down her disgusting meal. Poire snarled and picked Gala up by the scruff of the neck.  
"What was that, kougra?" Poire growled menacingly. Gala rolled her eyes.  
"I said your bulbous mass doesn't need more sweets: you're quite fat enough." Gala grinned as some of the younger pets. Poire silenced them with a glance.   
"You're gonna wish you never said that, kougra," the chia said through clenched teeth.  
"Really? What are you going to do, sit on me? Or kill me with your disgusting breath? Can you say tic-tac?" Gala batted the air between them. Poire glared at her, and clenched her paws. Just then, tinkling bells from beyond the door attracted Poire's attention.  
"I'll deal with you later, kougra." Poire dropped Gala and hastily made her way through the wooden door. Gala scarambled to be on her feet again and stuck out her tongue at Poire's retreating back. 'It's bad enough being in the pound, but to have a warden like that... insufferable. I wish she'd get what she deserves.' Gala thought to herself as she imagined various ways to punish Poire. 'Slime in her tea... mud in her bathtub.... dust in all her food...' Gala snickered to herself. A couple of the pets looked curiously at her.  
'Every day, morning to evening. Taunting Poire and avoiding a blow from her fat paws, with decrepit toys and books to wile away the hours and disgusting food to keep us barely alive.' Gala sighed, and pawed through the meager pile of books, careful not to use her claws or touch a book with anything but a delecate touch, lest she accidently rip it to shreds. She carefully picked one out of the pile. 'Neopian Faerie Tales, my favorite!' She took the book, carefully putting back the pages that had fallen out, and bustled over to her cage with it. She leaned against the bars, trying to get comfortable, and opened the book.   
Later that day, a little after lunch (Mud Pizza for everyone), Gala was still reading, the pizza only a slight interruption as she choked it down. Fidget, having finished trying to draw a picture on the ground with a piece of the pencil, scampered over.   
"Gala, can you read us a story?" Fidget looked at her with round, innocent eyes. It made Gala want to cry, she was so hopeful.   
"Ok, but you guys have a nap right after this, k? I can tell you're sleepy." Fidget nodded as abunch of other pets dropped what they were doing and assembled in a half circle around Gala, who sat crosslegged in the front.   
"Once upon a time..." Gala got into the flow of the story easily. It was one of her favorites, about a faerie who was half elf and had been an outcast because of it. She had met up with the Renegade Faerie, and, when she met the love of her life, returned to FaerieLand to be the Faerie Queen, because her mother had been the Fae queen before her. A long time ago, Gala had learned she'd been named after this Faerie Queen, though she couldn't remember who had told her this. The book of faerie tale never mentioned the queen's name, referring to her only as the "Half Faerie" or the "Queen of the Fae." "And they lived happily ever after, or so they say." Gala looked up. She'd been so immersed in telling the story, he hadn't noticed all the young pets had fallen asleep. She carefully pushed them into their own cages, out Poire's way, in case the fat oaf should come staggering through their section of the pound. Gala looked through the rest of the books in the pile. 'How to Groom a Mynci; Kacheek Lore; Extinct Pets: the Badeek, the Tigren, and All the Originals; wait a second, what's this?' Gala stared at a book that was shaped and made to look like a door. On its cover was no title, but the one on the binding was "The Book of Escapes." She tried to open it but found it was stuck. She tried to pick it up, but it was too heavy. 'Poire never notices how many books she's put out or what their titles are. I doubt she even knows how to read. I guess I'll just scoot this book over to my cage and hide it behind the boulder she calls a bed. Yeesh, that thing is worse than sleeping on the floor! At least it makes a good hiding place.' Gala carefully pushed the book into her cage and slid it between the nook between her "bed" and the wall. She took a step out of her cage and looked at her bed. 'I can't even see the book. Perfect!' Gala turned around and found herself facing Poire.  
"What were you looking at in there?" Poire asked, sneering.  
"Just the beautifully comfortable bed you gave me. It's like sleeping on a cloud!" Gala said with mock earnesty. Poire stared at the boulder, befuddled. She reached in (Gala held her breath) and knocked on the boulder.   
"Solid as a rock. The kougra's insane." Poire brought in some slabs of rock and adjusted them inside the cage, making it more like a stone and cement box rather than a cage. Luckily for Gala, the bed was against the wall, so the book was safe. Poire threw Gala into the chamber roughly as she fitted a slab of plywood on her door, carefully cutting out the smallest slot at the bottom. "I can't risk you hurting the other pets. Crazy pets are a liability. You're staying in here, getting your food through this hole, until I can figure out what to do with you." Gala nodded, dazed from being thrown into the cage and her head hitting the stone walls.   
Gala woke up at dinner, as she heard a scraping noise. She looked in its direction and saw a Cup-O-Slime being pushed through the slot. She carefully grabbed it, swiping her claws at the pudgy paw the was holding it. A yelp from outside gave Gala the satisfaction of knowing she had punished Poire. 'At least now I have plenty of privacy to look at this book.' She pulled it into her lap, wishing she had more light. Luckily, the evening lights, the cheap florescent bulbs Gala had originally cursed because they stayed on all night, came on. 'Never thought I'd be glad to be in this annoying bright light.' Gala examined the book, and noticed there was a lock on the book. 'No wonder it wouldn't open.... but that's strange. It looks more like a lock for a door than a lock for a book. It doesn't keep anything closed in a way I can see, but the book is jammed. Hmm... I can pick the lock to my cage (or I used to be able to), I wonder if I can pick the lock of this door...' Gala flicked out a claw, and set to work, jostling the lock with her claw. A dry click told her she had been successful. She hastily opened the book, hoping for an explanation of how to get out of the pound. 'It won't be long before that idiot Poire realizes I'm not as insane as she thought and lets me out again.'   
Gala was sorely disappointed when she saw what was in the book. Each page was covered with a pictre of a different type of exit, some holes, some caves, some doors, and even a ladder. Gala, annoyed, flipped through the book, looking for a page with writing of some sort. She found none, to her disgust. She tossed it behind the boulder and paced on the floor, rying to figure out how to get away from the ghastly pound, short of being adopted. 'I'm not going to be adopted unless I look like a good pet. I'm not gonna look like a good pet if Poire keeps feeding me slop and torturing me. Therefore, I'm stuck here forever unless I get myself out.' Gala sighed as she walked the length of her small cage for the tenth time.  
Gala was wide awake all night, furious and wondering how to escape. By the time the lights flickered out, signifying the sun had risen, Gala was exhausted. As soon as the lights went out, she fell asleep, oblivious to Fidget's scratchings at her door and the three meals shoved into her cage.  
Gala awakened as the lights flickered on at sunset. She stretched the kinks out of her muscles and hurried over to the book again. Instead of ranting over the pages, she began puzzling over them. 'Who bothers to make a book full of pictures of exits?' she puzzled to herself. As she flipped through the pages, she noticed a picture of a rough wooden door set in cement, much like the cement in her walls. As she stared at it, she began to think it was just like the cement of her walls. She reached a paw out to touch the door...  
Instead of paper, she felt the rough surface of badly cut wood. She pulled back a paw, and, as she looked at it, saw there was a splinter in her paw. Gala pulled it out, wincing only slightly at the pain. 'This can't be a normal book...' She stared at the picture, and, on an impulse, slid her claws under the edge. The picture slid off the page, leaving a blank sheet of paper. Gala gaped at the flimsy image in her paw. She vaguely noticed the same image reappearing on the blank page. Carefully, she stuck it to the wall, smoothing out the edges. She took a step back from it, and as she did so, the picture stuck onthe wall seem to become solid. It grew to the size of a normal door, and the handle began to grow out. Gala gaped. She took her flimsy cotton blanket and, making it into a rough bag, stuck the book in it. She stuffed the foodin the bag as well, and then tried the doorknob. The door swung open, creaking only slightly as Gala slipped outside.  
Gala took her first breath of fresh air in what seemed like an eternity. She went to close the door behind her, but as she held the handle, it simply melted away in her paw as the door faded into cement. Gala simply gaped. She pulled another door out of her book, and placed it on the wall next to where her door originally was. Gala opened the door, revealing a small yellow figure curled up on a bed similar to Gala's.   
"Psst, Fidget!" The yellow kyrii woke up, and glanced at Gala. Realization dawned in her quickly, as she picked the lock of her own cell and then those of the others. Unfortunately, there was something Gala hadn't counted on.  
"We're not coming with you," an aisha piped up. Many of the pets glanced at her apprehensibly, uncomfortable.  
"Why in Neopia not?" Gala exclaimed, carefully keeping her voice low so she wouldn't wake up Poire.  
"Because they obey me," a low growl rumbled through the section. Fidget lived up to her name: she fidgeted. Gala bristled, annoyed and angry.  
"Who are you? Why don't you show yourself?" she hissed. The growl's owner chuckled and stepped forth.  
"Very well." A large blue lupe strode out of the shadows. The krawk who had spoken before giggled nervously.  
"He's Raz! He's strong and has all his marbles and Poire isn't mean to him!" the krawk quipped.   
"Poire likes him? Is that a good thing?" Gala asked. Raz snarled.  
"Poire's an idiot. She thinks I'll eat her if she tries to torment me. Think what you may, but these pets follow me now. I won't allow them to follow some lunatic pet on a wild goose chase. I don't want them hurt." Raz's voice rumbled like thunder.  
"Neither do I, but I suppose the word of a crazed pet is as good as no word at all." Gala rolled her eyes. Fidget glanced at Gala and Raz.  
"I'm staying here. It's scary and dark outside." Fidget shivered and entered her cell. Gala sighed.  
"Take good care of them, Raz. I'll be back someday to free you all, I promise!" Gala waved as the door began to close and fade away. She could hear Raz's deep thundering voice consoling the pets, telling them she was only a lunatic and had an empty promise. "I promise." She whispered to the solid wall in front of her. She picked up her makeshift bag and walked into the nearby forest. Deep into the forest, she crept into a tree and fell asleep as the sun rose, using her bag as a pillow. 


	2. Thieving Days

Gala looked up as the sun set, her eyes adjusting to the dim twilight quickly and glowing slightly. She glanced around, looking for food. As she gracefully leaped from the tree she had slept in, she walked toward an area full of light at the edge of the forest.   
It was the High Street. She looked around as the street lights flickered on brightly. She noticed mobs of owners inside the doors of each shop, snatching items and throwing neopoints at the shopkeepers. Gala shook her head as she walked from shop to shop, noticing each empty as the shopkeeper, ragged and strained, say there was nothing left in the shop. She looked for the money tree, a thing she had never seen but had heard of in the pound. A wonderful tree whee gifts for the poor were left by kind owners and ghosts. Gala soon found what she was looking for.  
A giant tree, surrounded by more people she had ever seen, loomed above her. Some scratches in its bark resembled a smiling face. 'Looks more like it's sneering than smiling.' Gala thought to herself as she watched the insane owners diving and grabbing items and bags of neopoints. She gaped at the throng before tying her bag to her back and diving into it.  
Gala looked around. She was surrounded by humans, running around. She froze in fear of the sprinting people. Before she regained her senses, she was kicked off to the side, winded. Gala didn't miss a beat, darting out of the way of an owner about to step on her. She noticed a thin bag of neopoints near her. She reached out a paw to grab it, but a plump bruce waddled over and quickly snatched it, smirking smugly. Gala looked around, and spotted a bottle of black sand. She rushed to grab it, but a Usul who appeared to be hanging out with the bruce snatched it out of her grip. The bruce, usul, and various other pets continued this game with her, snatching up items as she tried to grab them.  
"I guess you're just too slow, Street Kitten," The bruce sniggered as he adjusted his bow-tie and kicked dust into Gala's eyes. Gala yowled, rubbing her eyes. As her vision cleared, she snarled at the pets. Though they were a few years her senior, they glanced at each other nervously. They obviously hadn't been spending much time in Grundo's Gym or the battledome, based on their pudgy appearances. Gala was thin, but sinewy from years of avoiding Poire's hard knocks. Her claws were quite sharp, kept in good condition from sharpenings on Poire's pudgy body. Gala flashed her claws and snarled again. The group backed up against a wall. But before Gala could do or say anything, a tall skinny woman ran up, and glared at the small red kougra.  
"EEK! A RAT!" She screeched, a sneer branded onto her face. Gala scowled at her darkly. "You disgusting creature, what have you been doing to my pets?!" Her obnoxiously high voice gave Gala a headache. She looked up at the owner and began to back away slowly, resisting the urge to sink her teeth into the aggrivating woman's leg. The skinny woman grabbed Gala by the scruff of her neck. "Oh no you don't! I'm gonna talk to your owner! Who is it?!" The woman, who Gala had alread nicknamed Brat in her mind, screamed into Gala's ears.   
"No one." Gala yelled back into the woman's face. Brat looked taken aback for a moment, but resumed glaring at Gala.  
"You're lying! Oh, I'll find your owner!" Brat laughed, half twittering, half cackling. Gala shivered. 'What an annoying voice...' She thought to herself peevishly as she was raised higher into the air by the scruff of her neck.  
"WHO DOES THIS BEAST OF A KOUGRA BELONG TO?!" Brat screeched at the top of her lungs. The owners paused to glance at her. A simultaneous shrug was followed by the resumption of pawing through the articles at the money tree. Gala smiled sweetly.  
"I told you I didn't have an owner." Her tone, obnoxiously sweet, had a condescending and annoyed air to it. Brat scowled.   
"What's youre name, you wretched pet?" Brat tapped her foot impatiently but Gala shook her head.  
"You can't make me tell you my name," Gala growled quietly, as was rewarded with an annoyed mutter from Brat.  
"I can find your owner anyway!" She twittered, and, yelling a command for her pets to go home, stalked off to the Neopian Police Building.  
They reached the building too soon for Gala. Brat tossed Gala onto the desk. "This kougra was mauling my pets! I want to know what ignorant wretch owns her."  
"I was not mauling your pets! They were taunting me first!" Gala scowled. Brat glared at her, but couldn't match Gala's peeved scowl, and looked back at the police.  
"She's obviously lying." Brat shrugged, and the police-member standing behind the desk rolled his eyes and set to work on his computer. He looked at Gala.   
"Strange eyes. Kinda creepy, aren't they?" He shrugged as Gala glared at him. "Name?" Brat shrugged. "You don't know her name? How am I supposed to look her up if you don't know her name?" The police-member scowled.  
"I figured the great Neopian Police could figure out that themselves." Brat sniffed.  
"Look lady, we're not psychic, but I'll see what I can do." The police-member began typing quickly. "I got something. GalaLeFey: pound escapee, red kougra, golden eyes, thin but strong, answers to Gala." He looked up. "She fits the description. We better OWWWW!" Gala never gave the police-member a chance to finish his sentence. She bit him and jumped off his desk, running towards the door. Two red lupes lept in front of her, snarling, but Gala dodged around them, more agile than the large pets. The glass doors flung themselves open and Gala ran through them, into the fresh air. 'Must be electric, but I didn't see any mechanisms near the door, except the hinges.' Gala didn't give it a second thought as she ran into a statue of a chia. The stature slid to the side slightly, and Gala slipped through the chink. The lupes, well fed and muscled, couldn't slip through the opening, and the statue didn't seem to want to move any more. One lupe, a claw through the opening, muttered at her, sounding not at all pleased with the escape.   
Gala looked around the place she had just enterred. She saw various signs: "Poetry Contest," "How to Draw," "Coffee Shop," "Art Gallery," and so on. All the signs seemed to be palettes made of stone. Gala dodged into the Coffee Shop.  
"Goodness gracious!" Gala heard someone exclaim. She looked up, making sure her bag was still tied to her back. A cute yellow shoyru, wearing an apron, a hat, some blush, and blue eyeshadow, smiled down at her. "You're so thin! Practically fur and bones! I'll fix you right up!" The shoyru pulled her behind the counter into the back of the shop.   
Gala was in a small room, with hundreds of similar foods everywhere. Gala gaped. The shoyru "tsk"ed a couple times. "Haven't seen good food in a long time, have you?" She asked. Gala shook her head, still staring. "I'm Azucar. My family's always fed little pets, since my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt twice-removed Pimienta fed a bunch of nobles unknowingly in the little inn she worked in. The inn had such a pretty name, Silver Lakes. Anyway, I run Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe, makers of the best coffee in Neopia. Just call me Zuc." The shoyru smiled motherly at Gala, who smiled back uncertainly. Zuc pulled a couple different cups out of the shelves, and placed them on a small table with a bench next to it. "Sit! Eat! This," Zuc pointed to a purple cup with whipped cream and purple sprinkles topping it, "is our Purplum Mocha, that's a Strong Berry Java," Zuc pointed at a light brown cup full of chocolatey brown liquid, "and this is Spironut with Cream," the last was a brown cup with whipped cream and brown sprinkles on top. "They're all very good. And I think some of our Tiger Squash foods would be good for you too. How 'bout an Iced Bun, Swirly Cake, and Ice Cream? Does that sound good?" Zuc glanced at Gala as she pulled ou the corresponding foods. Gala nodded ecstatically. As soon as Zuc put the food on the table, Gala ravenously dove into it. Zuc "tsk"ed in the background a few times before going to the front of the shop again.  
Gala finished quickly, and stretched. She hadn't had this much food in ages. Zuc came back in after a few minutes. "The front is sold out already. I've got 8 minutes to rest before bringing out more for those vultures." Zuc shook her head, then smiled at Gala. "You sure finished fast. Would you like some more? I've got plenty." Zuc gestured at the shelves. Gala nodded, and Zuc pulled down a blue mug full of liquid and snowberrries, and many pastries and thermoses which she put in a large bag. "Drink this Snowberry Tea now, and save the rest fo later. I don't like seeing pets go underfed, especially ones as young as you. Tsk tsk tsk tsk..." Zuc pulled down a cup of tea for herself as Gala waved, leaving the back room.   
Gala peeked through the front door. A couple members of the Neopian Police were looking around, with lupes and gelerts sniffing the ground. Gala ducked into the shop, looking out through a crack in the door. She watched the members pass with their pets, then darted out the door. She crept toward the statue where she had come in, then squeezed through the hole. The statue slid shut, almost catching her tail as she pulled her bag out.   
Gala sprinted over to the forest on the outskirts of the High Street. She found a tree with a hole in it, and stuck her bags in it, scratching a G into its bark to mark it. She climbed into its branched, and fell asleep.  
Gala woke up at dawn as the sun rose. She watched the sky turn red and gold, then blue as it rose. She leapt down gracefully, and took a drink out of one of the thermoses and ate some of the Gross Food she had left over from her days in the pound. 'No sense leaving that to get even more rotten.' Gala thought to herself. She stretched, sore all over.   
Gala made her way to the Money Tree again, but this time sat on the sidelines, watching the scuffles. She noticed a fat pet in expensive clothes pick up a heavy bag of neopoints and waddle out of the throng, kicking some smaller pets out of the way as it walked. Gala snarled, and darted in, snatching the bag from its plump paws and slipping away. She heard the pet yellling at her from behind, but making no move to chase her. Gala noticed a tiny little poogle trying to get to the money tree, but unable to get past the throng before being tossed out again. Gala smiled sadly, and pushed the bag into the poogle's paws. It looked up at her incredulously as it weighed the bag in its paws. "Keep it," Gala whispered, and the poogle ran off as fast as its little legs could carry it. As Gala walked back to her position on the sidelines, she was stopped by a Pant Devil, one of the ones that supplied the money tree with donations. He smirked down at her. Gala shiverred, but stood firm. "I don't have any items. Leave m-me alone." Gala's voice quaked for a moment. The Pant Devil stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "I know that, kougra. That was a kind thing you did. I dislike these rich pets who go to the money tree to take from those who have less than them." The Pant Devil touched her forehead: Gala felt like ice ran through her veins for a few seconds. "You have the makings of a thief. I've heightened them a bit. You have your own magic, I can tell. Things seem to want to please you, and I wouldn't be surprised if I was under the influence of your magic right now. There aren't many ownerless pets who would give something they want away. I'll keep an eye on you for now." The Pant Devil winked at her and faded away, leaving Gala shiverring. She noticed a bunch of pets and owners staring at her like she was a mutant. Gala gulped and slipped away, noticing how much faster and stealthier she was. 'I guess what that Pant Devil said was true... cool!' Gala noticed bloated grarrl sitting on the curb, a large pile of chocolates next to it. 'Now to test out my new abilities...' Gala crept up behind the grarrl, and managed to take the whole pile without it noticing. She walked away, munching on a white chocolate chia. She tossed an orange chocolate skeith to a kyrii so thin you could count its ribs. She gave a dark chcolate usul to a tiny skeith, who nibbled on the ears, smiling. She had soon given away all the chocolates just walking around the High Street. The rest of the day went fast, with Gala stealing items from the rich and giving them to the poor small pets. 'I'm a regular Robruce Hood.' Gala thought to herself as she walked to her tree in the outskirts.  
The days followed like that, with an occasianal visit with Zuc, and an occasional visit from the Pant Devil, who told her his name was Mort. And so the days passed, until the day Gala had been exploring the Art Gallery.  
Gala had been in the Gallery a few times before, admiring some of the beautiful artwork and wondering how some ever got in. This particular time, though, a member of the Neopian Police had spotted her on her way to the Coffee Shop and she had dodged into the Gallery. She ran frantically, looking for somewhere to hide. Out of nowhere, Gala heard a low, rumbling growl that seemed to fill the gallery. She noticed a large, pearly white lupe walking up the hallway. "The Ghost Lupe..." Gala whisperred. The Ghost Lupe nodded, and gestured with its head. Gala followed, trembling. They silently made their way through the Gallery, making a right turn here, a left turn there. They soon passed the wall of artwork labeled "Page 1." Gala glanced up at the artwork quickly, but when she looked back at the lupe, it was gone. She noticed a white door nearby, coverred with symbols Gala had never seen in her life. She heard the footsteps of the Police-member she'd been running from. 'Here goes nothing...' Gala thought to herself as she opened the door and slipped through.  
"Ren, we've got a red kougra from the Gallery entrance." 


	3. The Renegade Fae

"Ren, we've got a red kougra from the Gallery entrance." A male green wocky said into his walkie-talkie from behind a desk in front of the door. Gala tensed, preparing to run. The wocky looked up and chuckled. "There's no need to run, hon. We don't send ownerless pets to the pound here." Gala frowned, looking confused.  
"Only an ownerless pet could have seen that door. Does this place look like part of the catacombs?" The wocky gestured around, and Gala suddenly realized her surroundings. She was looking down a cute neighborhood of neotownhouses in rows down streets, with little gardens and artwork dappled around. The pets walking around seemed oblivious to anything going on behind the door Gala had just stepped through. As Gala looked around, she became aware of a very odd thing. The door she had just come through was one in a chain of doors that were on a huge wall that extended high above her, up to the sky.  
'Wait a second...' Gala squinted. 'That's not the sky! That's just a ceiling painted blue!' Gala stared at the wocky, who chuckled, as if he could read her thoughts.  
"This is CaraTown. It's where the pets Ren finds live." The wocky grinned. "I'm Bramble. I watch for new arrivals from this section. These doors cover the entire rim of CaraTown. The doors are magical, and this entire town is magic. It's inside a little gypsy caravan, hence the name CaraTown." Gala nodded a she looked around. She could feel the magic in the air, open and flowing freely, not stifling like a box. She thought back to what he had just said.  
"Who's Ren?" Gala asked naively. Bramble laughed, and Gala jumped at the sound.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Bramble smiled at her sympathetically. "I keep forgetting how few people have heard of the Renegade Faer..." Gala's jaw dropped open, and she interrupted him.  
"The Renegade Fae? THE Renegade Faerie?" Gala's mouth was in a distinct O shape. Bramble chuckled.  
"So you have heard of her. She's not exactly the most famous or the most glamourous fae." He grinned. "But most of us think that's a good thing." Gala smiled apprehensibly, then shuddered as she felt a wave of something over her head. The wocky stared at her curiously. "What's wrong?"  
"Didn't you feel that? It flowed over my head like water!" Gala stared back at him.   
"The only thing flowing constantly is magic. You can sense magic? Whoah, you've gotta met Ren!" The wocky looked excited and he spoke into his walkie-talkie again. "Ren, I just found a pet who can apparently sense magic. I'm bringing her to you. Can you get Dewdrop to fill my spot for now?" A muffled yes came from the walkie-talkie, and the Bramble dragged Gala over to a red door, different from the white with black symbol type Gala had walked through all around it. He opened it, revealing a grassy clearing in the middle of a forest. The walked out, and Gala craned her neck to see behind her. They had just come out of a cute small caravan car in good condition, painted red and black, with the words "The Wandering Outcasts" emblazoned on the side. Bramble pulled her over to another Caravan, this one baby blue and white. Bramble opened the door and pushed Gala into it gently.  
This caravan was relatively normal. It seemed about the size it should be. A bed was pushed in the back with a large chest at its foot. A desk was on the other side with some books on a shelf above it (obviously magically held in place or they'd fly off every time they changed directions). A soft blue rug hugged the floor, matching the beekadoodle's egg blue of the walls. The most impressive thing about the room was the person who was sitting on the bed. It was a faerie with dazzling blue, red, and yellow wings. Her extravagant wings seemed out of place with the rest of her though: she was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a white T-shirt, completely in contrast with the cute little outfits the other Fae wore. Some grass stains on her knees and mud on her ratty looking sneakers showed she was far less conscious of her looks.  
Bramble grinned at Ren as she set aside a notepad she'd been writing in and smiled kindly at the wocky and the skinny light red kougra next to him. "Hello Bramble, is this the little pet you said could sense magic?" She knelt on the ground so she could be near eye level. Her beautiful wings folded against her back, and diminished in grandeur.   
"Yes'm." Brambles gently pushed Gala forward. She crouched as low to the ground as possible, looking lik a small rug. Ren laughed lightly.  
"Kitten, do you fear me? You look like you've lived a hard life. Don't worry, you're welcome here. What is your name?"  
"GalaLeFey, ma'am" Gala spoke meekly, almost as if afraid of losing her chance at staying. The Renegade Fae laughed again, startling Gala.  
"There's no need to be stiff. Calling me Ren is fine! GalaLeFey... Hmmm, like Gala the faerie. I suppose you've heard of my old friend, the Half Fae Queen, Fyora's mother?" Ren asked curiously.  
"Yes ma'a... Ren. I think someone once told me I was named after her. Her story was one of my favorites!" Gala grinned enthusiastically, the much-loved topic loosening her up.  
"You have good taste in tales. And yes, you were named after her. Not for no reason, either, it seems. You said you could sense the magic moving in CaraTown?" Ren came back to the original topic.   
Gala shrugged. "I dunno what magic feels like, so I don't really know if I can sense it." Ren looked thoughtful for a moment, then pulled out her wand.   
"Do you mind if I experiment?" Gala shook her head, meaning it was ok. Ren made a slight movement with her wand and pointed at a vase behind Gala. Gala felt a wave pass her, not so strong as the one before, but still quite distinct.  
"I can see you felt that, the look in your eyes tells it all. What peculiar eyes you have, too! Like drops of honey!" Gala blushed, though it was lost under her soft red fur. "Will you come over here for a moment?"   
Gala blinked, then shrugged as she lightly walked over. Ren placed a gentle hand on Gala's head. Gala could hear Ren murmuring something, but was suddenly acutely aware of being immersed in what seemed like a pool of magic. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, which suddenly felt like they were on fire. As she calmed herself, she felt the magic fall away. Gala shiverred. She stretched, her back in particular felt really tense. Bramble stared at her. Gala glanced at him questioningly. Ren conjured up a mirror, and held it up to Gala. She stared into it, and suddenly noticed the new appendages on her back. "W-wings?" Her pale red fur suddenly drained of color, fading into a shocked shade of white. "MY FUR!" Gala yelped, and looked at herself in the mirror, turning in circles. "What happened? Why do I look like a ghost now?"  
Ren shrugged, looking surprised. "I blessed you and, unlike other fae, my blessings are never the same twice. Yours gave you wings and, apparently, changed the color of your fur."   
Gala looked at her fur, the white was changing into a confused shade of gray. "So why is it still changing? Can't decide on the right color?" Gala stared at her reflection in the mirror, which was now just floating in midair.  
"Perhaps. Who knows? I don't know why my powers are like this, it's just a peculiar aspect of my faedom." Ren smiled with mock wistfullness. Gala giggled, her fur turning a shade of light blue.  
"There it goes again! What's going on?!" Gala demanded of her reflection. Her fur turned bright red in a seeming reply. Ren looked thoughtful.  
"Hmmm... This is just a hunch, but I think it may be in truth... Gala, I think the color of your fur is in tune with your emotions. Your fur is a giant mood ring, so to speak. Well, this may be a problem, but maybe you can control it yourself? I suppose this clenches it though. You'll have to start magical training with me immediately. Let's see if I'm up to par, though, because most of the time I come across pets with strong magical powers, it's usually only in one element and all I need to do is send them to the nearest fae of that sort for training. You... well, you seem to be of no element, or maybe every element? I don't know. Only time will tell. Bramble," The green wocky, who had been silently watching all that had been taking place, looked up expectantly. "Find GalaLeFey a home in CaraTown. A one pet flat would probably be best, but make sure there's a bunch of other pets living nearby, preferably ones who have already had fae training and are living here. Maybe in your section?" Bramble nodded. "Until tomorrow, Gala." Ren picked up her notepad once more, dipping a large quill pen in an inkwell and writing.  
Bramble tugged Gala out of Ren's caravan. "Ren writes in Fae runes, there's no use trying to read over her shoulder. It all looks like Peadackle scratch unless you know how to write it. Fae runes also can supposedly be used in spells, though how, I have no idea." Bramble grinned as they walked back into CaraTown. "Welcome to your new home, for now at least."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
Author Notes: It's a little short, but there was alot of dialog. I had a little trouble with it... -_- 


	4. Elementals are Cool!

"Welcome to your new home, for now at least."  
Gala blinked. "What do you mean, for now? Will I be leaving soon?" Gala sighed. Bramble chuckled.   
"'Course not. But sometimes, circumstances make you want to go and live somewhere else. Any pet is welcome to stay as long as it needs to. Of course, want and need are usually different things, but you get the idea. Anyway, this red door here is to the outside of Caratown, and will be the one you'll take to get to Ren's cabin and take magical classes. The other doors are off limits. They're to everywhere, and those are fae runes on them. They're rather hard to find once you're somewhere else, so you may not want to go through them, k?" Bramble sounded quite serious, so Gala simply nodded, awestruck by the possibilities. They walked along a small road with a few other pets passing, who greeted them as they walked by. Everyone seemed to know one another, and the atmosphere was alot friendlier than in Neopia Central. The duo soon reached a small avenue with townhouses along the side and an apartment building at the end of it. He lead her into the building. "Your flat will be the rooftop one, it's smallest and probably best for you to practice flying, now that you have wings. I live in the townhouse right there," Bramble gestured to a neon green house. "I'm an earth elemental, so I've had training in that area already. I'm a real green thumb with plants, see?" He gestured around his front yard, which was as wild as the jungles in Tyrannia. Gala walked over to a plant propped up in several places with sticks. "Those are Lazydels. They won't stay up on their own, so you have to prop 'em up with sticks." Gala touched the plant with a careful paw. A tendril of vine erupted from the stem and wrapped itelf around her claw. She jumped backwards, nearly landing on a Sunday Bush. The foul smelling bush (it wasn't sunday) twitched and a few flowers opened their buds slowly, causing a sweeter scent to be revealed. Gala blinked. Bramble looked rather shocked and excited. He knelt by the plants, touching a few and making small sounds that sounded rather like leaves moving in the wind.   
"Wh-what's going on?" Gala stammered, staring at the plants, which were suddenly swaying in a nonexistant breeze.  
"The plants are talking like crazy about you! Maybe you're an earth elemental! Then you could learn under me until we get to FaerieLand and you meet the Uber Earth fae. It'd be so wicked awesome, I never really met any other earth mages! Touch this plant, and tell me if you understand what it's saying!" He pointed to a Peabeanjay Flower. "They're chatterboxes."   
Gala, somewhat uncertainly, knelt on the ground next to Bramble, and gently touched the flower's soft petals. She suddenly became aware of everything growing around her. She felt almost overwhelmed by the life around her, but none-the-less focused on the purple flower she was touching. A soft whispering filled her mind, and Gala strained to understand, but it remained quiet whisperings, almost-words. She looked up at Bramble. "I don't understand it. I know it's trying to say something to me, but I just can't understand it. It's too quiet. Can you tell it to speak up?" Bramble stared at Gala, his eyes full of disappointment.   
"For a plant, it was yelling quite loudly. I could probably have heard it across CaraTown without trying. Maybe you're not an earth elemental." Bramble kept his disappointment in check. 'It's not the kitten's fault she's not an earth element, though she obviously has SOME sort of connection with plants, for her to understand anything at all.' He thought to himself. "Well, let me show you to your new home." He stood up, brushing the dirt from his fur. Gala nodded, doing likewise. Her fur was now a rather dark shade of brooding blue, he noticed. 'I wonder what that means...'  
'Being an earth elemental would've been so much fun! Being able to talk to plants would've been so cool. I wonder how Bramble ate, though. Wouldn't being able to talk to veggies and stuff make it feel like cannibalism or something?' Gala's 7 year old mind, while mature for it's age, wandered off in other directions as she followed Bramble through the apartment building up to the small flat on the last floor. Each floor was a small apartment, and, with five floors in all (Gala's apartment being on the fifth floor), there were alread 4 pets living there. Stopping short of the stairs that lead to the roof, Bramble was nearly bumped into by a zoned out Gala, who had started wondering what kind of conversation one would have with a Plantmelon one was about to eat. She muttered an apology to Bramble, her fur turning a faint shade of pink with embarassment. He shrugged, and opened the door they were next to. A label, which had to be magical, that said "Unoccupied," flashed, faded, and was replaced with fancy script that said "GalaLeFey." Gala gaped at it before she looked into the room.   
For a moment Gala thought she had gone colorblind, until she realized the entire room was black and white. The furniture in the room was the Zen set, and the walls had been left white. Bramble blinked, apparently getting used to the lack of color in the room. Gala grinned and ran in, admiring the room. "This... this is my new home?" Gala looked around in muted awe. Bramble smiled.   
"For as long as you need it, you got it." Bramble smiled. Gala suddenly remembered something.  
"I left some stuff in a hollow tree on the outskirts of the High Street. Do you think I can get it?" Gala asked. Bramble looked thoughtful for a moment.  
"I'll get it. One sec, I'll be right back." He left the building, walking toward one of the doors. Gala watched him through her window. He put his paws on the ground and looked like he was deep in thought. She vaguely noticed him tracing symbols on the ground absentmindedly. She watched, astonished, as the grass itself was passing her bag of food and the Book of Escapes to Bramble. He picked it up, ran his paws through the grass fondly, and wiped the dirt of his claws as he picked up the bag. He reentered the buildng and Gala met him at the top of the stairs.   
"Jhuidah! That was so cool!" Gala didn't even notice the name of the trading faerie pop out of her mouth in exclamation. Bramble, however, found it interesting.  
"Did you live on the Mystery Isle when you were younger? 'Jhuidah' is an exclamation said there quite often, as well as 'Pango Pango.' Do you remember?" Gala shook her head in answer to the question. "So you were in the pound so long you didn't even remember your original owner or siblings? Wow..." Bramble sounded wistful. "I'll leave you to get accustomed to your new flat. I'm sure others will come by to visit soon." With a wave, Bramble left, going into his garden and lying down on the grass in his garden, letting the cool earth and the life all around him clear his mind.  
Gala shrugged as he left, and turned to look at the furniture in her neohome. Her living room had a Zen Desk, Sofa, Table, Mirror, Curvy Drawers and Rug, as well as Functional Gray Chairs. The carpet was black and the walls were white, giving Gala the feel of being in a giant ying-yang. Her fur had turned a happy blue, and when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, she almost didn't recognize herself. She spent a few perplexed minutes looking for the skinny blue kougra in the mirror before realizing it was herself. Looking through the drawers of the curvery drawers, she found it was full of food. Dumping the remains of the food she had been living off of on her own into it, she looked for a place to store her book. She glanced at the desk. She had heard these had quite a few secret compartments. Feeling around, she found an area under the drawer of the desk that was just the right size for the Book of Escapes. She slid it in and shut it, noting the place where it was in her mind for further reference. Glancing around, she noticed two doors aside from the front door. Choosing the one on the wall next to the front door rather than the one right across from it, Gala walked in.   
Gala's sensitive kougra nose twitched at scents that seemed familiar. The room she was in was obviously a bathrrom, with a bathtub in one corner and a Coconut Stand turned into a vanity near it. Next to the bathtub was a Fresh Bamboo Mat where one would step out, and at the foot of it was a Fresh Bamboo Shelf unit full of Towels and other grooming products, as was the Vanity. The walls were a faint shade of blue and the tiles on the floor were pale yellowish green, and small painted flowers dotted the wlls. Noticing another door with a Dry Bamboo Mat in front of it, Gala shrugged and stepped through.   
Taking a few paces, Gala found herself in the bedroom, reminiscent of her original coloring. The walls were pale sunset red, and the carpet was the same lush black as in the living room. The bed, sofa, long drawers, and chair in the room were Tiger print, making Gala feel like she was back in her old fur again. In the coner near the long Drawers was an Italian Style Recliner, and near the sofa was a Red Pot and two Bean Bag Chairs, one red and one rainbow. At the foot of the bed was a Cream Rug, that had been tinted (probably magically) into the same golden hue as Gala's eyes. Gala smiled as she jumped into the bed, snuggling the covers. Happy with her new home, but bored, she began jumping on the bed, doing small flips in midair. A knock on the door startled her, and she accidently jumped off the bed, luckily landing on a nearby beanbag and only getting a minor bruising. She ran out the other door in the room, knowing it had to lead to the living room, and ran to the door, hufffing rather ungracefully as she opened the door.  
"*pant pant* h-hi, I'm *whew* Gala." Gala grinned as she looked up at her visitor, a female blue acara.  
"Err... Hello, I'm Dewdrop. I'm a friend of Bramble's. I'm a water element, so I usually help him a bit with his garden. You know, watering plants and such. We're a pretty good team." Dewdrop beamed. "Anyway, Ren sent me to help you get cleaned up. No offense, but your fur must have seen better days at one point, right?" Dewdrop grinned and pulled Gala into the bathroom.   
Too quickly for Gala's taste, she has plunged into hot water in the bathtub. Dewdrop poured what seemed like the entire bottle of Shampoo into Gala's fur, scrubbing the dirt from the past weeks on the street and past years in the pound. Gala whined, not enjoying the water. When she had gotten a rich lather, she dumped hot water onto Gala, cleanly rinsing the fur. She then got the bottle of Conditioner and began working it into Gala's fur, untangling knots and mats as she went through Gala's fur. Dewdrop tickled Gala's ribs as she passed them, making Gala giggle despite herself. "This isn't too bad, is it? I remember this one time, I had to tie a little Jetsam down to get him clean, and they're supposed to LIKE the water!" Gala grinned as Dewdrop rinsed the conditioner from her fur, then began to go through the grooming supplies. She pulled out some Super Shiny Shampoo, and worked it through Gala's fur. Gala sneezed a few times at the strongly sweet scent. Weary of the water, as soon as Dewdrop tuned her back again, Gala tried to quietly leave the tub.  
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Dewdrop yelled, and plopped her back in the tub. Gala scowled and crossed her paws as she sat down. "Honestly, you'd think these pets had an allergy to water..." Dewdrop muttered, rolling her eyes. She grabbed the Wing Sock and ran it through Gala's new, albeit now waterlogged, wings, making the feathers shine. Finally (at least to Gala), Dewdrop pulled Gala out of the tub, wrapping a towel around her. She pulled out a Frizz Free Mane Cloth and began rubbing it roughly through Gala's fur. Gala yelped. "You wanted quick, you get quick, but quick has it's own flaws..." Dewdrop scolded. Gala frowned as Dewdrop, apparently satisfied with how dry Gala was, pulled out a Snazzy Moon Comb and began to comb Gala's fur. Gala growled, shrieked, and cried as Dewdrop hit knots and snarls in her hair, but dewdrop, unrelenting, pressed forward until Gala's hair held no resistance to the comb. Dewdrop then grabbed a Gold Brush and ran it through Gala's fur a few times, before switching to a Red Short Hair Brush, and combing Gala's fur till it shone. Gala struggled and fidgeted, but Dewdrop ignored her, pressing a strong paw against her shoulders. She took the bottle of Perfume and spritzed Gala with it. Gala sneezed at the flowery scent. Dewdrop grabbed a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt she had brought in with her and gave it to Gala, who quickly got dressed. Dewdrop steered Gala over to the mirror at the coconut vanity. Gala gaped at the kougra looking back at her. Her fur and hair were clean and smooth, quite shiny. She looked rather like the pet of an owner who hadn't been able to feed her pets much, but was impeccable about grooming them. Gala twirled in the mirror, examining herself from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail. Her fur turned an excitedly happy royal purple as she spun around in circles, looking in the mirror and making herself dizzy. Dewdrop laughed.  
"Oh! Before I forget, Ren sent something for you with me. I wan't really here to give you a bath, you just looked like you REALLY needed one." Dewdrop snickered as Gala scowled at her. The blue acara led her back into the living room, and picked up a small package she had left on the Zen Table. She handed it to Gala, who carefully unwrapped it. A small rod of dark chocolate colored wood with a round clear crystal at the end was revealed. "It's a wand. Since Ren's going to be teaching you magic, she figured you'd need one. Your wand is for practical and basically general magic. The more you use it, the more it keys into you. Eventually the stone on the end becomes the color of you element." Dewdrop pulled out a wand of a lighter color of wood, with a bright blue stone on its end. "See? Because I'm a water element." Dewdrop grinned. She made a small movement with her wand, and bubbles began to grow out of the tip of her wand. She smiled as she popped them with her claws. "Hope you have fun in class!" Dewdrop winked as she left, leaving a trail of bubbles behind her. "Oh, and if you need me, I live in the turqoise townhouse next to Bramble's!" She yelled up the stairs. Gala walked over to her window and looked for the house specified.   
'Cool looking house...' Gala thought to herself. The entire front yard was a rather deep pond. Gala wondered how Dewdrop would get across, and decided to stay to watch. Dewdrop walked up to the edge of the water and immersed a paw in it. At first, Gala didn't notice anything happening. Then she noticed bubbles coming up the the surface, quickly. Gala was vaguely reminded of a can of neocola. The bubbles quickly joined together to form a patway just large enough for one pet to walk through. With ease won with practice, Dewdrop walked across, oblivious to Gala watching her, and enterred her home, shaking the water off her paws as she went inside.  
Gala stepped away from the window, and looked at the wand in her paws. 'This is so... powerful. I wonder what it'll be like to learn magic.' She noticed a note and a watch in the package her wand had been in. Gala picked it up and read it aloud.   
"Magical classes start at 9 am. Be prompt! Your alarm is set for seven. Come to my cabin for classes. You know the way.   
"~Ren" 


	5. More Subtle Elemental Foreshadowing

Gala awoke to a loud fanfare that was coming from her wrist. 'Wait... what?!' She stared at her wrist. She saw the white watch on her light purple fur. 'Whoa, I thought it had all been a dream...' Gala stood up, stretching out her knotted muscles. Not used to how comfortable the bed was, she had slept on the floor which was still much more comfortable than what she was used to, thanks to the soft, plush carpet. She walked into the bathroom, taking in the familiar scent of fresh bamboo. She cleaned up a little, taking the time to get the knots out of her fur and hair. She quickly put her long hair, which had stayed black, the same color as her stripes, into a simple braid, which hung down her back. She checked her watch. It was only 7:15, and she could probably get in a short nap if she wanted to, but she felt no desire to laze around her new home. She walked back into her bedroom and pawed though the clothes in the Long Drawers (she had found, last night, that it was full of any article of clothing she could desire). She found a cotton shirt with a picture of Fyora on it and paired it with a pair of jeans. Pocketing her wand, Gala walked out the front door of her flat and glanced at the stairs. 'Hmm, I wonder what it's like to fly...' Gala flexed her new wings, and nearly fell over because of it. "Must... learn... balance..." Gala muttered to herself as she stood. She carefully walked up the stairs, wondering how she made it all the way up 5 flights yesterday without falling. She (finally) reached the door to the roof and opened it, her fur turning pastel yellow with relief. Gala looked around. The roof was relatively plain, devoid of all furniture except for a rather tattered, but comfortable, looking couch. Gala chose the edge just above the avenue that led to the building, and wondered how to start out. 'Run and leap, or just jump?' Gala looked down. 'Definitely run and jump, I'd rather have alot more momentum to help me get flying.' Gala backed up from the edge, and began running, piking up speed. She could feel the wind under her wings, and felt a rush of exhileration as she leaped from the edge and began to pump her wings...  
...And began to fall. Gala yelped as she rushed face-first toward the ground, which suddenly looked alot farther, but was rapidly closing in. She shut her eyes as she felt she was about to hit the ground, her fur turning an almost transparent shade of white...  
...And was caught by something soft and furry. She opened her eyes and looked up at her saviour. A white uni with kind blue eyes stared down at the pale white kougra. The uni, a female, alighted on the ground gracefully, stretching her wings gracefully as she dropped Gala onto the ground. "What do you think you were doing, Kitten? Free-falling five stories?!" Gala's fur blushed pink.  
"W-well, I j-just g-got a pair of w-wings..." Gala stammered, looking down at the ground.  
"And you thought you'd try them out? Tsk, you would've been severely hurt or worse, killed, if I hadn't been out here!" Gala nodded, looking forlornly down at the ground. The uni sighed and smiled.  
"Sorry, I was just scared. I was just leaving my little neohome when I saw you jump. I live there." She waved at a extremely pastel (almost white) blue house which, Gala noticed, had no door, rather, a unch of windows.   
"How'd you come outside?" Gala looked at the uni curiously.   
"Oh, there's a trap door on my roof. It's my front door. I don't get alot of chances to exercise my wings during the day, so every day I fly down rather than just walk out. By the way, I'm WindDancer, but call me Windy. You must be GalaLeFey, Dewdrop already told me about you. I'm an air element. Watch this." WindDancer knelt on the ground carefully, as though afraid she would jostle something. She began twirling her hand gently in the air, moving it in circles. Gala noticed the wind pick up around her, moving in the same direction as Windy's hand. It got stronger and stronger: Gala soon was crouching on the ground, digging her claws into the dirt, trying to keep the wind from tugging her into the air. The uni glanced at Gala and began making movements with her hands, as though stretching out a rubberband. The wind began receding, buffeting just outside a small circle which held Gala and WindDancer. Gala stared around her in awe: the wind had picked up a little dust and she could see the small, low power cyclone being held in check by Windy. Apparently there were others who weren't amused. Dewdrop and Bramble, apparently leaving their homes right now, noticed the whirlwind and walked over in annoyance: as Bramble marched through his garden, the plants shied out of his way, receding from his footsteps. Dewdrop's entrance was a bit more spectacular. Her water, already rough from the winds, was immediately calmed and a path opened through the center, like a miniature version of Moses' grand miracle. The duo stomped up to WindDancer, who, with a snap of her fingers, called of the winds. Everything grew eerily calm once again, so suddenly.   
"What do you think you're doing? You could've ripped my plants up by the roots! You scared them out of two years growth!" Bramble growled in annoyance.  
"And my fish! They're all quiverring at the bottom of my pond from fright of the storm you whipped up for them!" Dewdrop hissed in annoyance. Gala perked her ears: she hadn't realized there was anything living in Dewdrop's pond, though it seemed quite normal to fill a pond with fish petpets. Walking away from the squabbling pets, Gala made her way towards the water. She knelt by it, and placed a paw in the water. She felt something similar to the feeling she got while touching a plant yesterday: an awesome awareness of life. A bunch of aquatic petpets surfaced and began nuzzling her paw. Gala smiled and stroked a Cubett. A Frillabon wrapped itself around her wrist, rather like a full body hug. A Cheerlub nearby began making loud, squeaky "Meeeeeba meeb" sounds. Gala winced, her ears twitching from the high pitched sound. A Ramosan squeaked at her a gave her a friendly static shock, causing her fur to stand on end for a moment before settling. A red Ghoti gracefully wafted to the surface, followed by a few more of the other colors. Dewdrop looked up from her verbal sparring, and noticed Gala kneeling by the water.  
"What are you up to, sweetie... by the Healing Waters! Look at this!" The other elementals walked over, and glanced over Gala's shoulder.  
"What's up? Your fish seem to like her, don't they?" Windy said, unimpressed.  
"The Ghotis like her, which is weird. They're REALLY shy. Gala, can you understand what they're saying?" Dewdrop looked excited. Bramble frowned, nonplussed.  
"They're saying something?" Gala strained, but all she heard was the same whisperings she got from the plants the day before. Dewdrop's face looked rather crestfallen. Bramble took her aside and explained what had happened yesterday. Dewdrop looked rather confused and awestruck at the same time.   
"She has earth AND water abilities? That's rather peculiar, isn't it?" Dewdrop frowned. Bramble jut shrugged. WindDancer looked rather interested.   
"Think she may have air abilities as well? I mean, she DOES have wings, after all." The others shrugged in response, and Gala just blinked and wondered what was going on around her. Windy gave a low, lilting whistle. A rather large Cirrus flew down from her roof where it must have been resting. A few winds picked up nearby. "Cirrus are good focuses for air magic. Gala, can you put you paws on him please?" Gala complied. A different awareness surrounded her, one more of movement rather than life. Small breezes tugged at her, beckoning her to fly into the air. Gala began floating in the air slightly, and Windy giggled with delight. "Air abilities as well! How wonderful! Though I assume, as was with the others, you haee no strength with this? You can't control this?" Gala shrugged. "Well that's a no, I think." Gala gently removed her paws from the Cirrus, which whistled and flew back up to Windy's roof. A small beep came from the watch at Gala's wrist.   
"Oh, I have a class in..." Gala glanced at her watch, "eep! fifteen minutes!" Gala gulped.  
"The door to the outside is straight on this road. Here, all roads lead to Ren." He grinned.  
"I think I'll go with you. I think Ren may want to know about all this." Windy said, toying with her wand.   
"I'll go to. I have nothing better to do. My door shift is being taken over by Bramble today, isn't it?" Dewdrop smiled pointedly at Bramble, who jumped.  
"Oops, that is the rule, isn't it? Call someone to take your spot and you do theirs. Then I better get going. Later, everybody!" He jogged off with a wave to his friends and his plants. Gala glanced at his garden: the plants were waving back. She smiled, until her watch beeped again. 'Ten minutes left to get to class, yipe!' She, Dewdrop, and WindDancer all ran down the road, quickly reaching the red door and even more quickly reaching Ren's caravan for Gala's morning class.  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
Author Notes: I know I gave WindDancer hands instead of hooves. Hooves don't work as replacements for hands while paws do. If it makes any difference, she has hooves for feet. 


	6. Magic Made Easy! Or Maybe Not

So... few... reviews... *fuzzy ego creature dies of starvation* You're all so cruel! So so so cruel! You're bad people!  
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The out of breath trio stumbled through the door to Ren's caravan. Ren looked up, a rather amused look on her face. A few other pets, toying with wands whose crystals faintly gleamed of other colors, not fully developed into an elemental wand. Gala glanced at her own wand, whose crystalline tip still had yet to develop into any color, faint or otherwise. Dewdrop leaned against the wall, catching her breath. WindDancer was busy fixing her hair, which had come out of it's ponytail. Gala checked her watch. She was just on time. A usul giggled at the disheveled group, until Gala snarled at her. The usul sniffed impertinently. Gala narrowed her eyes to glare at the usul, her fur turning an angry shade of red. Ren, noticing what was going on, scowled at the two pets. The usul shrugged nonchalantly, rolling her eyes as she turned back to her group. Gala bristled with anger, but turned away, her bright red fur subsiding to a brooding grey. Ren listened to Dewdrop and Winddancer's excited explanations, glancing at Gala curiously quite a few times while they spoke. Gala busied herself with polishing her wand until the elder pets speaking. When they did, she looked up expectantly.   
"That is extremely peculiar for a pet to show attributes of three different elements, considering how rare it is for a pet to be a strong elemental at all." Some of the other pets beamed proudly; others, including the usul which Gala had already started to dislike, yawned and smiled smugly. Gala focused on Ren to keep from attacking the usul, who was quickly making a bad start with the multicolored kougra.  
"Pets, please introduce yourself to GalaLeFey. She is our newest recruit, of unknown elemental status. Please be courteous." Maybe it was Gala's imagination, but the final remark seemed focused at the usul's group of friends.  
"Granola." A yellow pteri stepped forward, spun around in a circle, and flicked the tail that held his wand. A flower erupted from the tip. "Earth elemental." He grinned companionably at Gala. Dewdrop looked rather confused.  
"I thought we didn't have any other earth mages..." Dewdrop smiled at Granola unsuredly.  
"He arrived last night. Apparently he had met up with a friend of mine who I had given an extra wand. She gave it to him and trained him in rudimentary magic, then sent him to me. Got here round midnight." Ren smiled fondly at the pteri. "In fact, I was gonna call Bramble here. He already had his training from the fae and decided to stay here, so he can teach Granola the basics so he gets full attention. I know how much Bramble wants to teach another earth elemental. Now, the rest of you, please continue." She nodded to the other pets.  
"Yarrow." A green lenny bowed rather awkwardly. Holding her wand with a delicate feathered hand that grew into a wing, she made a rather weak splash of water burst from the tip and turn to steam. "Curse it all! That was supposed to be bubbles!" The lenny glared at her wand as though that would make a bubble appear. "I'm a water elemental..." She grumbled despondantly.  
"I've been teaching her on my off days. You know, the days I'm not monitoring or resting, like today, I guess." Dewdrop smiled fondly at the little green lenny, who kicked at the ground bitterly. Dewdrop put a paw on her shoulder. "You'll get it eventually! It's tough in the beginning."  
"Yeah yeah yeah..." Yarrow murmured, but she sounded a bit more hopeful nonetheless.  
"Kupari." A quiet but extremely self-assured voice seemed to declare as a few brilliant silver sparks were shot into the air, quickly dissolving into smoke. Gala didn't have to turn to know it was the red usul speaking. "Fire elemental." Gala nodded. Three pets was all she'd seen, she realized. The room was just so full of life, like millions of pets had gone through it, that it seemed like so much more.   
"Raz." Gala jumped at the fourth voice, and realized she'd missed a pet. She recognized the deep voice, and moreover, the name. "Darkness element. So we meet again, Gala." She turned to see the blue lupe. A hint of a smile showed on his face. Gala's mouth dropped open.   
"You know each other?" WindDancer asked needlessly. Gala's face was a mask of confusion.  
"Ren picked up me and the rest of our section. They're happily living in the lower portion of town. I'm the only one with any magical potential, so I'm taking classes in magic. What happened to you, Miss Deranged?" Raz's face changed for a moment, but it was hard to tell if it was a grin or a sneer.   
"You know, I'm not insane. I just needed to get out of there. It's too weird. Though I can't say the rest of Neopia is more normal. Just a bit easier to stand." Gala shrugged.   
"Please, you can talk after lessons. I now have class to begin." Ren jumped in quickly. Gala nodded, sitting down quickly, but gracefully. Raz, twirling his wand whose crystal was already smokey gray, eased himself into a position where he was comfortably leaning against the bed. Ren pulled some books out of her bookshelf and told everyone else to work independently while she brought Gala up to speed.   
"First things first. You're gonna need to study at home as well. Everyone else has copies of books. Let's see..." She picked up a book with a plain wand imbedded in the cover. "This book discusses wand technique, and gives practice spells. When you become more advanced this will be good for when you want to create a spell out of scratch. As you become more experienced, you will not need to use your wand to use your magic, but it creates a good way to focus your powers. The wand does not actually have any power. It just channels your own, so however powerful it feels, that's your own." Ren grinned. "The more in tune with you a wand is, the more power you'll feel in the wand. If you use a wand that was made for another, you will not have the best results. These wands you are using are utterly general, but they mold themselves. I invented them." Ren smiled proudly. She pulled out a wand of similar make, whose crystal was of more intricate design and was gray, rather than a regular element color. She touched it to the book with the wand, and an identical copy appeared on top of it. "This is yours." Gala nodded mutely.  
Gala was also given a large magical spellbook. She was told of how its contents were spelled to change as new magical spells were added to any of the copies of it. "Like, what's it called... the Internet! That's it! Funny thing those mortals cooked up." A small guide full of practical spells that fit in Gala's pocket was also added, as well as a textbook on magical theory, another textbook on the history of the Fae, and a dictionary on General Fae Runes.  
"Each type of fae has it's own, er, I guess you'd say dialect of fae runes. General is the main one, the original. Since you don't seem to have a specific element that I can see and I'm not into trying to teach you each element just in case, it would be better if you focused on something else. No one else is learning Fae Runes, nor does anyone else have any real interest in it. It's useful in some spells though, and some are quite... interesting, to say the least." Ren smiled as she conjured up a bag and placed all but the book on wand technique into the bag, which had "Gala" on it in fancy script.  
"Study this and practice the techniques." Ren said, as she went off to help Yarrow, who was floating inside a giant bubble, despite Dewdrop's attempts to get her free.   
Gala spent the rest of class trying to get her "swish-flick" just right. It was harder than it seemed in the book, and, five minutes before class ended, she got it perfect, and rainbow sparkles shot up from the book, which was also apparently magical. 'I guess all the supplies for this class are magical. Cool!' Gala thought to herself as she started to sweep away the glitter. The glitter disintigrated after a few moments though, so Gala just put her book in her bag and swung it on her back as she readied herself to leave. Raz sauntered over, smiling bemusedly.  
"So, I'm curious, just what did you do after you left the pound?" Raz asked, sounding genuine.  
"Feh, pound pick-ups and escapee. How common. You finally got the sense to realize the pound is a roundabout place to live, and few ever actually get adopted." Kupari sneered as she passed.  
"She's a runaway. Thinks she's above everyone else because she controlled just about everything she did. She didn't have to deal with the pound or pets like Poire." Raz murmured to Gala.  
"Ah, so she's a control-FREAK?" Gala said, just loud enough for the red usul to hear. Raz snickered.  
"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Kupari growled.  
"Snobbish runarat."  
"Pound scum."  
"Flabby usuki-loving self-loving beach ball."  
"Twiggy stick beast out of the deepest stinkiest parts of the Mystery Island!" ("Stinkiest", you may ask? Well, come on. They're only eight year olds).  
Gala unsheathed her claws and growled, low and menacingly, at Kupari. Kupari suddenly seemed to notice Gala's thin muscular physique, quick and strong. In relation to her own soft, rounded body, she didn't have a chance.  
"We'll finish this later," Kupari said with false bravado, and flounced out the door of the caravan.  
Raz looked at Gala appraisingly. "Nice. She got scared and high-tailed it. All bark and no bite, as the saying goes. Anyway, what's your story?"  
Gala told him about Brat, the Neopian Police, her days thieving, her meetings with Mort and Zuc, and finally her run through the art gallery and finding the door.   
"That was why I didn't want the little pets going with you. You obviously weren't insane, but they were in no shape to live on their own. They'd be better off with owners who loved them." Raz said gently.  
"After what I saw on the high street, I doubt there's such thing." Gala shrugged. Raz looked thoughtful. "Anywayz, this is my street, I think. Later!" Gala skipped away as Raz waved, and, sure enough, there was her building. She ran over to it, noticing Dewdrop and WindDancer tanning on WindDancer's roof (after they had finally gotten Yarrow out of the bubble, they decided to spend the rest of the day hanging out).   
"Hi! Hey Windy, will you teach me how to fly now?"  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
*Tosses out the old fuzzy ego creature and pulls a new one out of the pocket dimension of fuzzy ego creatures* Ok, so they're not that rare, but there are those 5 minutes after one dies where I'm inconsoloable. Really. So please R&R. 


	7. Flying Lessons and a Chat Between Old Fr...

WindDancer walked over to the edge of her roof and looked down at Gala. "Yeah sure, I'll teach you to fly now, just give me a minute to get down there." She disappeared from view, apparently going down the trap door, and, after a few minutes, came back up, this time wearing a black tank and a pair of dark blue worn jeans. She leapt off her roof and gently floated down to the ground with the grace of a ballerina. Gala watched admiringly. Dewdrop simply walked onto the roof next to Windy's house, which was the roof of her own house, and entered it through a small door. Windy picked Gala up and flew her to the roof of Gala's building. "Alright, now." The white uni whistled, and her Cirrus flew over. "Sit on her, please. And hold on."  
Gala did as Windy said, and wondered at the last command, until the Cirrus suddenly moved beneath her, flying out into CaraTown. Gala got an aerial view of the entire town, and noticed the inside was simple a greatly enlarged caravan, just like Ren's... or were they themselves greatly shrunk? Gala had no idea. The light inside came from the ceiling, which was completely clear from the inside, revealing the sky above, though when Gala had been outside, the roof hadn't looked clear. 'Must be like some sort of one-way mirror or something.' Gala whooped with exhilaration as she moved through the air, her fur turning a gleeful shade of neon green.  
"Close your eyes and spread your wings, Gala. Feel the air currents and how it rises and falls beneath your wings. Feel for thermals. It'll all come naturally!" WindDancer yelled up to the kougra. Gala complied. With the aide of the Cirrus, she focused on the moving air around her, and sensed rising currents and different forces pulling at her wings. After a few moments, she suddenly realized the Cirrus was no longer beneath her, that she was flying on her own. She cheered for herself, grinning. Windy blinked.  
"Cirrus! You're not supposed to leave her until she's gotten the hang of flying perfectly!" Windy scolded the petpet and looked up at the flying kougra worriedly. The cloud whistled and howled, the language of the wind. "What do ya mean, she was ready? This is her first lesson! She can't be ready already!" Windy glanced up at Gala for a moment, and suddenly remembered the way Gala had shown remarkable abilities in her magic. "Or can she?" Windy shut he eyes, feeling the wind's movement. Strangely enough, the wind seemed to be trying to aide Gala, to make things easy for her, simply complying with her every action. Windy opened her eyes with shock. "No need to bend the wind to her will... or worry about how to move... if I hadn't caught her this morning, would she have been hurt? Or would the wind have helped her, protected her?" WindDancer paused, wondering aloud. As Gala glided back and landed next to her, falling the the roof with little grace, stumbling as she moved, Windy remained silent.  
"What a rush! I didn't know it only took one lesson to learn to fly! It's so simple!" Gala gushed enthusiastically, spinning around happily. "Now if I work on landing and taking off, and being graceful and stuff, I'll be almost as good as you! Then we can go flying together!" Gala jumped up and down happily, her eight year old nature replacing her more mature demeanor. Windy giggled at the young pet's enthusiasm, her preoccupation forgotten.   
"Keep practicing and you'll be doing great in no time. Your balance is really good too, most pets with new wings take weeks to get used to them. Hmm... I'm gonna go home, 'kay? Give me a holler if you need anything." Deep in thought, the white uni flew over to her own home and slipped through the trapdoor on her roof, the small padlock on it magically shutting behind her. Gala shrugged and spent the rest of the day floating on the breeze, not even realizing the winds were bending themselves to her will.  
It didn't take long for Gala to get the hang of making a graceful feather-like landing, or to be able to leap into the air and let the wind catch her, without having to get a running start. With the winds aiding her, she could touch the leaves of Bramble's garden with the tips of her claws, skim over the waters of DewDrop's pond, dive and pull up into the air just before hitting the ground.   
Meanwhile:   
"I have never seen a pet like this! Your Majesty, tell me, have you seen any pets with a paw in each element?" Ren spoke to a mirror with a familiar purple faerie reflected in it's glass, rather than the brunette fae standing there.  
"I've heard of pets that are multi-elemental, but I've never seen any with my own eyes. Keep an eye on her. Bring her up here to FaerieLand, if you can. I'd like to see about giving her formal training with the Fae, if she's as talented as you say." Fyora paused for a moment. "And there's no need to call me 'Your Majesty,' when there's no one else around, Ren. You were friends with my mother, and are certainly my elder, even if you do not look it. How is my mom, by the way? Everything alright in her home in the Lost Desert?"  
"All fine and dandy." Ren grinned. "And the formality simply sticks after a time. Anyways, Gala - the pet - has another blessing, other than mine, as well."  
"Another blessing? You mean one of my subjects encountered such a vastly magical pet and did not take her under her wing?" Fyora raised an eyebrow. Ren shook her head.  
"Not of one of us. The blessing of a demon. A Pant Devil's blessing." Ren spoke calmly, but Fyora's eyes widened with disbelief. Ren continued, "And yet there is no sign of corruption that usually comes when such a blessing is given to a normal pet. Like the kind that comes with weak pets who have been blessed with a Dark blessing. As we both know, nothing is naturally evil. Not even the Dark Fae. We need to remember that. Speaking of Dark Fae, I heard you took a young Fae under your own powerful wings. What's her name again?" Ren inquired.  
"Ah, that Fae? She's a young genius. She's discovered ancient spells and ruins that were uncharted before, and has created spells that are beyond powerful. It's most beneficial to Fae ties that she does not turn against us or Neopians. She could wreak horrible damage, with her intelligence, craftiness, and cunning. All wonderful qualities until they're tainted with evil." Fyora nodded to herself quietly.  
"But what's her name?" Ren persisted, interested in this young prodigy.  
"Rycio. But back to the main topic. Gala was blessed by a Pant Devil? What sort of blessing?" Fyora paused a moment in thought. "Malicious or benevolent blessing?"  
"A bit of both. The blessing, or curse, take it as you will, is that of thievery. Gala has the abilities of a thief heightened: cunning, stealth, intuition, and nimble, of course. The downside is that she is more susceptible to corruption. But with proper training, she could probably become as powerful as one of the fae, perhaps even one of the Uber-Fae. She'd be like an Uber-Pet!" Ren smiled ecstatically. Fyora rolled her eyes.  
"Sometimes I find it difficult to believe you are my elder, even if I did know you since I was born." Fyora smirked and Ren stuck her tongue out at the Faerie Queen. "Anyways, this Gala - it's so strange that she was named after my mother - I want you to train her in every manner you know how. Teach her as much as you possibly can out of your own knowledge. A multi-elemental pet could be a wonderful diplomat among the different types of Fae. When you've trained her in all the ways you can - I'm choosing you for this because, despite your silliness at times, you're still one of the wisest fae - bring her to Faerie Land. We'll see how things pan out after that. This kougra is very interesting. Keep up the good work with the Wandering Outcasts and tell me if anything else develops with this GalaLeFey."  
"I'll keep my eye on her." Ren smiled.   
"Well, I must be leaving now. The Earth Fae and Fire Fae are bickering: the fire fae, in one of their foolish tricks, accidently set an empty treehouse in the Earth Fae Forest on fire. They apologized profusely but... well, you know how Earth fae are. Stubborn as the earth itself." Fyora rolled her eyes and her image faded from the mirror, leaving Ren staring at her own reflection.  
"I wish she'd give me a chance to say goodbye before she leaves..." Ren murmured as she walked over to her desk and picked up her notepad. "Well well, Gala, you are a curious pet. Already flying, from what WindDancer has told me. So much to do, so little time..." The Renegade Faerie sat on her bed, hunched over her notepad, muttering to herself, her wings lazily beating the air into tufts around her when she felt the room got too still. As the caravans shuddered along the roads, Ren's hand moved furiously over the paper, writing runes so quickly that the faint shimmer they left in the air while being penned lingered as she flipped the pages and filled them up. After a while of this, she glanced up at a bewitched map on her wall, the one the magical artificial intellegence of the caravan used to show her their destination. "Huh. The Mystery Island." Ren paused, remembering what Bramble had told her of the way Gala sometimes fell into the distinctive slang of the natives. "'Everything has a purpose and a place, even the darkness.' So, my enchanted caravan... What is the purpose of this excursion?" 


	8. Underwater Caves and an Insane Albino

Gala floated through the air around her neighborhood when suddenly, it seemed like the world had lurched to a sudden stop. She had easily gotten used to the constant momentum that was inside Caratown, but when it stopped, she felt oddly still. She forgot to flap her wings to regain balance and fell to the ground, but luckily the winds cushioned her fall and she landed on the ground with a low "thump."  
"Ouch. Gotta remember those landings." Gala shook her head and walked to the neon green townhouse, through the jungle of plants in the front yard, and knocked on the door. After a moment, the earth elemental wocky opened the door, rubbing a quickly darkening bruise on the side of his face. Gala blinked. "What happened?"  
"Caravan stopped. I hate it when it happens so suddenly. I was taking a quick nap and I fell out of my hammock. And now a bunch of my plants are going to be tense. Why didn't Ren slow down first like she usually does?" He shook his head. "You ok? My plants seem to think you took quite a fall out there. Need any ice?" He was pulling an icepack of his own out a small fridge. Gala shook her head no. "Alright. I'm gonna go talk to Ren, see what the cause of this was. Want to come?" Gala nodded. "'K"  
They went outside and found Dewdrop grabbing fish that had been thrown out of her pond and tossing them back in the water. She stuck a paw in the water. "Everyone there? Oh no..." The Acara frowned worriedly and looked in the bushes. She glanced up and saw Gala and Bramble. "Well, what are you waiting for? Help me find a red Ghoti. I can't call her out of water, so I can't find her." Dew looked around worriedly. Gala crouched on the ground, looking around.   
"After you've found them all, I'll plant some vines around your pond to act as a sort of living fence. You fish can eat the nutrients left on the roots that immerge in the water and the vines will live off the water and the wastes of your friends." Bramble touched the soil, which glowed green for a moment. "Nice and fertile."  
"Sure. But help me find my Ghoti first!" Dew stamped her foot impatiently. Gala dove into the pond in front of Dew's yard. Dew jumped at the sound. "What on earth is that kougra doing?!"  
'Wow, it's alot deeper than I thought,' Gala thought to herself as she swam through the water. She had drawn a faerie rune on herself that had grown her a pair of gills, and she shivered with a strange pleasure as she swallowed the water and it immerged through her gills. Indeed, the pond was deeper and wider than physically possible - but then, so was CaraTown itself. Deciding the pond must have the same sort of spell on it (correctly so), she dove deeper down. A Tanizard nuzzled her as she swam. A Filamen glowed and nestled in the small valley between her wings and her back, glowing with a soft yellow light. A Bowla tied her hair back from her face A small school of Primellas and Catamaras seemed to smile at her as one. Gala almost forgot why she had dove into the water in the first place, until a Ramosan touched her, shocking her slightly and giving her a somewhat chiding look. Gala gave a curt nod and swam lower down. So far from the surface, it was dark, but the Filamen that was resting between her wings gave her light. She came upon a dark cave. She looked around warily. The Tanizard nudged her with her tail. A softly glowing school of Pookas arrived, in large amounts. Gala went in, worried, and the Pookas marked her trail as she went forward, each one staying to show the way back. Gala quickly made turns, and soon, there were no more fish left. The last Pooka looked at Gala with a look as though to say "It's ok, you can give up now. We're sorry." Gala shook her head. She swam forward, leaving the Filamen as one last marker and went forward into the darkness. She nimbly swam through the darkness in the tunnels, blindly going forward. 'Stupid! I should have brought that Filamen, at least then I'd be able to see better.' She shook her head at her own stupidity and turned around, giving up. She tried to go back, but could not remember which turns to make. Quickly, she got farther and farther from where she had left the trail of Pookas. 'Oh no... I'm lost!' In her panic, she swam around even more blindly.  
Suddenly, she immerged into bright light. She blinked, her golden eyes adjusting. She was in a cavern, and the walls were glowing. She looked around, entranced. Others were with her, just as hypnotized by the room and the shifting colors of light as she. One, though, was not. A small creature danced in the light, laughing with glee. As it danced, it sang liltingly:   
"My sweet pretty pets,  
"You will stay with me,  
"Never to roam,  
"Never again free.  
"Your home is now here,  
"And here you will stay,  
"For you are now mine  
"For fun and for play."  
Gala and the other pets nodded and swayed to the song. The music echoed from the walls. In the back of Gala's mind, she knew something was not right. 'I want to be free... I don't belong to anyone...' A voice in the back of her mind spoke up. Gala blinked, the trance broken for a moment, but the song simply grew fiercer, more encompassing.  
"My sweet pretty pets,  
"You will stay with me,  
"Never to roam,  
"Never again free.  
"Your home is now here,  
"And here you will stay,  
"For you are now mine  
"For fun and for play.  
"The world is unfair,  
"Without beauty or love,  
"If you stay with me,  
"You'll have all the above."  
The pets barely noticed the new addition to the song. But once again, Gala felt herself grow rebellious. 'I belong to myself, and myself alone. I have seen beauty in the world too, and I'm sure there is love.'  
"Please stay near,   
"So lonely am I,  
"For here I am alone,  
"So alone I could cry."  
The complete change in the song broke it's spell on Gala completely. She blinked as she looked around. The walls that had held her gaze for so long were merely mirrors, of no interest at all. The other pets... they disappeared completely. Merely imaginary playmates, set up to keep her happy. Gala looked up at the creature that had been singing. A little faerie frowned at her. It was albino in appearance: white-blond hair, ivory skin, and bright pink eyes with dark red pupils. Oddly enough, the faerie was wearing a deep purple dress.  
"What kind of fae are you? I'm sure I've never seen your type before."  
The faerie sniffed haughtily in response. "I'm a dark faerie."  
Gala nearly choked on the water she was breathing. "A dark faerie? But you look more like a light faerie!" After she said the words, Gala knew she shouldn't have. The albino faerie got such a look of anger and rage that any doubts that she was a dark fae were immediately dispersed.  
"As if I didn't know?! They kicked me out of the Dark Fae caverns. First I got stuck with that senile fae, Demona. The sweet, kind dark Fae!" The albino fae's face turned pink with anger. "And then, Demona said I was too disagreeable and sent me to the Renegade Faerie! Pah! Naturally, the first thing I did when I got here was build this little lake of my own and keep everyone away from me. Idiots, all of them." But then the faerie's face softened. "But I got lonely. I know all these caves like the back of my hand, and when I decided to immerge and see what was going on in CaraTown, they had built a house behind my pond. Petpets colonized its waters, but they stayed far from my caves, fearing its depths and turns. And today, two possible friends stumble into my home. But one has broken the spell, and the other cannot speak. Please stay." The albino faerie looked at Gala imploringly. "My name's Alabaster," the fae added as an afterthought.  
"I'm Gala. Would that other pet you spoke of... is it a red Ghoti?" Gala looked around the room, but saw nothing.  
"Why do you ask?" Alabaster said suspiciously, eyeing the kougra. Gala's fur turned pink with embarassment.  
"No reason! None at all, really." Gala said quickly. Alabaster noticed Gala's color change and smiled with delight.   
"You're a freak too! You'd be the perfect pet for me!" Alabaster grinned. A red Ghoti immerged from a mirror and disappeared. "Back into the open waters for you, I no longer need you." Alabaster smiled sinisterly. "I've got the perfect pet right here."  
"No! I belong to myself, and myself alone!"  
"Every pet needs an owner to take care of it and dote upon it," Alabaster chanted softly, her voice taking on the same soothing tone as it had when she was singing before. Gala shook her head, but she felt like there was a blanket muffling her thoughts. "That's it... give in... you don't really want to go back..." Gala nodded lazily. "I'm the only one who cares about you..." Gala closed her eyes. She felt a collar snap around her neck and suddenly felt wide awake. "That was too easy." Alabaster smiled triumphantly. "Well, my little pet. You now belong to me." Gala felt her fur drain of color with fear. Alabaster laughed ecstatically. "We look alike now, you and I. And here you and I both will stay, forever and ever. That rune that lets you breath underwater is easy to renew. I should know, I've been using it for quite a while." Gala clawed at the collar, but to no avail. It was enchanted, and bound her to its owner as long as she wore it. Alabaster attached a leash to the collar, and the other end of the leash she tied to a wall. "I'll call you Rainbow."  
Gala frowned with disgust at the name. "I've already got my own name, for your information. It's..." Gala choked. She couldn't say her own name. Her tongue twisted around, and forced the next word. "Rainbow."  
"That's right, Rainbow. Very good. You learn your lesson well. Who is your owner now?"  
Gala tried to say she didn't have one, but once again her tongue refused to obey her. "You are, Alabaster." 


End file.
